Frano Supilo
Encyclopedia
Frano Supilo was a Croatia
n politician
and journalist
. He was a major political figure in the twenty years preceding World War I
.
His career was a series of sharp political turns as he tried to reconcile Croatian national interests with the idea of a South Slav
unity and simultaneously resist the imperial aspirations of Serbia
, Italy
, Hungary
and the great European powers.
As a journalist, he was one of the sharpest and most articulated Croatian political writers, with surprisingly modern concepts and ideas.
and completed elementary education in Dubrovnik
. He had to drop out of naval high school because of a lack of funds, and instead finished a two-year school of agriculture by baron Frano Gondola. He travelled around Dalmatia
n vineyards educating wine-growers on peronospora
.http://books.google.cl/books?ei=5T0eTMC0PMH98AaCmZXEDA&ct=result&id=25xpAAAAMAAJ&dq=mladi+supilo&q=gondola#search_anchor.
His political career started when he became the founder and editor of Crvena Hrvatska
('Red Croatia') from Dubrovnik
(1890-99), a social/political paper based on the ideas of the Croatian Party of Rights and fighting for the unification of Dalmatia
with Croatia
.
Supilo played the main role in changing the public opinion, which expressed itself in several elections that brought down the Autonomous Party (pro-Italian) and Serbian
coalition that had gained power in the municipality of Dubrovnik in the 1880s with the support of the Habsburg
court, which followed the policy of divide et impera. He became one of the leaders of the Croatian Party of Rights in 1895. After the party split, he campaigned against Josip Frank
.
In 1900, he worked in Rijeka as the commissioner of the party's Dalmatian section, trying to use the paper he edited (Novi list
, renamed into Riječki novi list in 1907) to influence Croatian politics, orienting it towards a political cooperation between the South Slavs
and an agreement with the other peoples of Austria-Hungary
that were suffering the policy of Germanization.
and Josip Smodlaka, he was one of the initiators of the policy of the "New Course" and the creation of the Rijeka Resolution (1905) and the Croat-Serb Coalition
and its rise to power. Supilo made a radical turn from the traditional policy of the Croatian Party of Rights from two aspects: ideological and pragmatically political.
Ideologically, Supilo became the proponent of a "soft" Yugoslav
unitarism. He thought that Croats
and Serbs
(and later Slovenes) were a single people with three "tribes". This idea, which seems strange today, was shared by many of his contemporaries, based on the late national awakening of Croats, Serbs and Slovenes (not to mention Macedonians
, Bosniaks
and Montenegrins), the territorial closeness of Serbs and Croats, and the facts that the two peoples have very similar official languages. In practice, it meant the creation of a coalition that virtually recognized Serbs as a political entity in Croatia for the first time in its history.
An even stronger turn was the negotiation of the coalition and Supilo with the Hungarian and Italian politicians from Austria-Hungary
. It was a very brave and innovative move, but a total flop. Supilo played on the temporary conflict between the Vienna court and the Italian irredentists
and Hungarian imperialists, the traditional Croatian opponents who claimed their rights to some Croatian lands. He wanted to turn them into Croatian allies in the fight for the general democratization of the monarchy, which he believed would profit all peoples. But he estimated wrongly: the Italian and Hungarian imperialism was so deeply entrenched that it fell only after the world wars. As for Serbian nationalism, Supilo did not realize how stubborn were Serbian territorial claims over large parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina
and Croatia
.
When the Croat-Serb Coalition
won the elections of 1906, Supilo became a representative in the Croatian parliament and the leading figure of the Coalition. When the Hungarian parliament in spring 1907 decided that Hungarian would be the official language of the Croatian railroads, Supilo led the Croatian opposition in obstructing actions in the Hungarian parliament. He waged a strong campaign against the ban
Levin Rauch
, who supported the Hungarians. Supilo also initiated the fundamental constitutional issues on the status of Croatia. His radical attitude brought him in conflict with the Coalition leadership, which promoted a more careful policy with a view of another mandate.
Supilo tried to bring Croatian policy to the forefront of the South Slavs of Austria-Hungary in their fight for unification, while the Serbian part of the Coalition and some of its Croatian members wanted to harmonize Croatian policy with the Kingdom of Serbia
, which would bring Croatia to a politically inferior position in relation to Serbia. At the time of the "High Treason Trial" (1909), the politically motivated trial against the Serb public officials in the monarchy, initiated by the Viennese court because of the crisis around the annexion of Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1908, Supilo advocated a strong support of Croats to the endangered Serbs to preserve the harmony of Croats and Serbs based on the principles from the Rijeka Resolution and the Zadar Resolution.
. From that time until the death of the monarchy and the creation of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (1918), the Coalition was a tool in the hands of the most influential and ablest pragmatic politician of the time in Croatia, Svetozar Pribićević
, a Serb, who advocated unitarism and waited for the death of the monarchy to achieve unity with Serbia at any cost. Supilo accused the opportunist policy of the Coalition leadership of compromising Croatia and giving it an inferior position in the unification with Serbia. He was right, but Pribićević never intended to give Croatia a significant position in the future South Slave state.
After the assassination in Sarajevo, Supilo fled to Italy. He, Trumbić and Meštrović
started the action to free Croats, Serbs and Slovenians from Austro-Hungary and unite them with Serbia and Montenegro. He also participated in the creation of the Yugoslav Committee
. He tried to persuade the governments of the Triple Entente
to create a Yugoslavia that would cover all the South Slav regions. On his missions in Bordeaux
, London
and Sankt Petersburg in 1914-15, Supilo stood against the imperialist ambitions of Italy
on the Adriatic and promoted a compromise in that issue. When he found out about the secret negotiations between the Triple Entente and Italy, he started a vigorous action to prevent the sacrifice of Croatian and Slovenian Adriatic regions to Italy.
Supilo proposed a democratic unity of the South Slavs and their national equality in a federal Yugoslavia. Such views brought him in conflict with the Serbian prime minister Nikola Pašić
, the main realpolitik
figure in the idea of Greater Serbia
, and the compromising and politically immature majority in the Yugoslav Committee. All this made him leave the Committee in June 1916.
Supilo continued trying to make the Entente interested in Croatia and an integral solution of the South Slav question based on national equality (his well-known letters to British, Italian and Russian politicians Grey
, Sozzino and Sazonov
). The hard and hopeless situation of Croatia within the colonialist manipulations and secret plans (Treaty of London), already divided between the Italian and Serbian imperialism, was too much for Supilo, who had a nervous breakdown
and died in a mental hospital in London
shortly after, at the age of 47.
His death was immortalized by Krleža
in his Ballads of Petrica Kerempuh: "Sopilovog Frana,/kem serce pregrizla horvacka je rana" (Frano Supilo, whose heart was eaten by the Croatian wound).
Along with Stjepan Radić
, Frano Supilo seems to be the greatest tragical figure of modern Croatian politics. Machiavelli once said that armed prophets succeed, while the unarmed ones fail. This is true for Supilo: as the representative of the Croatian people in dark and insecure times, this unarmed prophet failed and was destroyed.
Croatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
n politician
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
and journalist
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
. He was a major political figure in the twenty years preceding World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
.
His career was a series of sharp political turns as he tried to reconcile Croatian national interests with the idea of a South Slav
South Slavs
The South Slavs are the southern branch of the Slavic peoples and speak South Slavic languages. Geographically, the South Slavs are native to the Balkan peninsula, the southern Pannonian Plain and the eastern Alps...
unity and simultaneously resist the imperial aspirations of Serbia
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
and the great European powers.
As a journalist, he was one of the sharpest and most articulated Croatian political writers, with surprisingly modern concepts and ideas.
Early career
Supilo was born in CavtatCavtat
Cavtat ) is a town in the Dubrovnik-Neretva County of Croatia. It is on the Adriatic seacoast 15 km south of Dubrovnik and is the centre of the Konavle municipality.-History:...
and completed elementary education in Dubrovnik
Dubrovnik
Dubrovnik is a Croatian city on the Adriatic Sea coast, positioned at the terminal end of the Isthmus of Dubrovnik. It is one of the most prominent tourist destinations on the Adriatic, a seaport and the centre of Dubrovnik-Neretva county. Its total population is 42,641...
. He had to drop out of naval high school because of a lack of funds, and instead finished a two-year school of agriculture by baron Frano Gondola. He travelled around Dalmatia
Dalmatia
Dalmatia is a historical region on the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea. It stretches from the island of Rab in the northwest to the Bay of Kotor in the southeast. The hinterland, the Dalmatian Zagora, ranges from fifty kilometers in width in the north to just a few kilometers in the south....
n vineyards educating wine-growers on peronospora
Peronospora
Peronospora is a genus of plant pathogens, belonging to the class of water moulds. Water moulds are not true fungi since they belong to the kingdom of chromalveolates....
.http://books.google.cl/books?ei=5T0eTMC0PMH98AaCmZXEDA&ct=result&id=25xpAAAAMAAJ&dq=mladi+supilo&q=gondola#search_anchor.
His political career started when he became the founder and editor of Crvena Hrvatska
Crvena Hrvatska
Crvena Hrvatska was a weekly Croatian Party of Rights political newspaper that spread the ideology of Ante Starčević in Dubrovnik, Dalmatia and that existed in 1890-1899 Austria-Hungary....
('Red Croatia') from Dubrovnik
Dubrovnik
Dubrovnik is a Croatian city on the Adriatic Sea coast, positioned at the terminal end of the Isthmus of Dubrovnik. It is one of the most prominent tourist destinations on the Adriatic, a seaport and the centre of Dubrovnik-Neretva county. Its total population is 42,641...
(1890-99), a social/political paper based on the ideas of the Croatian Party of Rights and fighting for the unification of Dalmatia
Dalmatia
Dalmatia is a historical region on the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea. It stretches from the island of Rab in the northwest to the Bay of Kotor in the southeast. The hinterland, the Dalmatian Zagora, ranges from fifty kilometers in width in the north to just a few kilometers in the south....
with Croatia
Croatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
.
Supilo played the main role in changing the public opinion, which expressed itself in several elections that brought down the Autonomous Party (pro-Italian) and Serbian
Serbs
The Serbs are a South Slavic ethnic group of the Balkans and southern Central Europe. Serbs are located mainly in Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina, and form a sizable minority in Croatia, the Republic of Macedonia and Slovenia. Likewise, Serbs are an officially recognized minority in...
coalition that had gained power in the municipality of Dubrovnik in the 1880s with the support of the Habsburg
Habsburg
The House of Habsburg , also found as Hapsburg, and also known as House of Austria is one of the most important royal houses of Europe and is best known for being an origin of all of the formally elected Holy Roman Emperors between 1438 and 1740, as well as rulers of the Austrian Empire and...
court, which followed the policy of divide et impera. He became one of the leaders of the Croatian Party of Rights in 1895. After the party split, he campaigned against Josip Frank
Josip Frank
Josip Frank was a Croatian lawyer and politician, a noted representative of the Party of Rights and the Pure Party of Rights in the Croatian Parliament, and a vocal advocate of Croatian national independence in Austria-Hungary.- Early life :Frank was born into a Croatian Jewish family, and he...
.
In 1900, he worked in Rijeka as the commissioner of the party's Dalmatian section, trying to use the paper he edited (Novi list
Novi list
Novi list is the oldest Croatian daily newspaper published in Rijeka. It is most read in Primorje-Gorski Kotar County of Croatia....
, renamed into Riječki novi list in 1907) to influence Croatian politics, orienting it towards a political cooperation between the South Slavs
South Slavs
The South Slavs are the southern branch of the Slavic peoples and speak South Slavic languages. Geographically, the South Slavs are native to the Balkan peninsula, the southern Pannonian Plain and the eastern Alps...
and an agreement with the other peoples of Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary , more formally known as the Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council and the Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of Saint Stephen, was a constitutional monarchic union between the crowns of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary in...
that were suffering the policy of Germanization.
The Croato-Serb Coalition
Along with Ante TrumbićAnte Trumbic
Ante Trumbić was a Croatian politician in the early 20th century. He was one of the key politicians in the creation of a Yugoslav state....
and Josip Smodlaka, he was one of the initiators of the policy of the "New Course" and the creation of the Rijeka Resolution (1905) and the Croat-Serb Coalition
Croat-Serb Coalition
The Croat-Serb Coalition was a major political alliance in Austria-Hungary during the beginning of the 20th century that governed the Croatian lands . It represented the political idea of a cooperation of Croats and Serbs in Austria-Hungary for mutual benefit...
and its rise to power. Supilo made a radical turn from the traditional policy of the Croatian Party of Rights from two aspects: ideological and pragmatically political.
Ideologically, Supilo became the proponent of a "soft" Yugoslav
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....
unitarism. He thought that Croats
Croats
Croats are a South Slavic ethnic group mostly living in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and nearby countries. There are around 4 million Croats living inside Croatia and up to 4.5 million throughout the rest of the world. Responding to political, social and economic pressure, many Croats have...
and Serbs
Serbs
The Serbs are a South Slavic ethnic group of the Balkans and southern Central Europe. Serbs are located mainly in Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina, and form a sizable minority in Croatia, the Republic of Macedonia and Slovenia. Likewise, Serbs are an officially recognized minority in...
(and later Slovenes) were a single people with three "tribes". This idea, which seems strange today, was shared by many of his contemporaries, based on the late national awakening of Croats, Serbs and Slovenes (not to mention Macedonians
Macedonians (ethnic group)
The Macedonians also referred to as Macedonian Slavs: "... the term Slavomacedonian was introduced and was accepted by the community itself, which at the time had a much more widespread non-Greek Macedonian ethnic consciousness...
, Bosniaks
Bosniaks
The Bosniaks or Bosniacs are a South Slavic ethnic group, living mainly in Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a smaller minority also present in other lands of the Balkan Peninsula especially in Serbia, Montenegro and Croatia...
and Montenegrins), the territorial closeness of Serbs and Croats, and the facts that the two peoples have very similar official languages. In practice, it meant the creation of a coalition that virtually recognized Serbs as a political entity in Croatia for the first time in its history.
An even stronger turn was the negotiation of the coalition and Supilo with the Hungarian and Italian politicians from Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary , more formally known as the Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council and the Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of Saint Stephen, was a constitutional monarchic union between the crowns of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary in...
. It was a very brave and innovative move, but a total flop. Supilo played on the temporary conflict between the Vienna court and the Italian irredentists
Irredentism
Irredentism is any position advocating annexation of territories administered by another state on the grounds of common ethnicity or prior historical possession, actual or alleged. Some of these movements are also called pan-nationalist movements. It is a feature of identity politics and cultural...
and Hungarian imperialists, the traditional Croatian opponents who claimed their rights to some Croatian lands. He wanted to turn them into Croatian allies in the fight for the general democratization of the monarchy, which he believed would profit all peoples. But he estimated wrongly: the Italian and Hungarian imperialism was so deeply entrenched that it fell only after the world wars. As for Serbian nationalism, Supilo did not realize how stubborn were Serbian territorial claims over large parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina , sometimes called Bosnia-Herzegovina or simply Bosnia, is a country in Southern Europe, on the Balkan Peninsula. Bordered by Croatia to the north, west and south, Serbia to the east, and Montenegro to the southeast, Bosnia and Herzegovina is almost landlocked, except for the...
and Croatia
Croatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
.
When the Croat-Serb Coalition
Croat-Serb Coalition
The Croat-Serb Coalition was a major political alliance in Austria-Hungary during the beginning of the 20th century that governed the Croatian lands . It represented the political idea of a cooperation of Croats and Serbs in Austria-Hungary for mutual benefit...
won the elections of 1906, Supilo became a representative in the Croatian parliament and the leading figure of the Coalition. When the Hungarian parliament in spring 1907 decided that Hungarian would be the official language of the Croatian railroads, Supilo led the Croatian opposition in obstructing actions in the Hungarian parliament. He waged a strong campaign against the ban
Ban (title)
Ban was a title used in several states in central and south-eastern Europe between the 7th century and the 20th century.-Etymology:The word ban has entered the English language probably as a borrowing from South Slavic ban, meaning "lord, master; ruler". The Slavic word is probably borrowed from...
Levin Rauch
Levin Rauch
Baron Levin Rauch de Nyék was a politician from the Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia in the late 19th century, the viceroy of Croatia-Slavonia from 1867 to 1871....
, who supported the Hungarians. Supilo also initiated the fundamental constitutional issues on the status of Croatia. His radical attitude brought him in conflict with the Coalition leadership, which promoted a more careful policy with a view of another mandate.
Supilo tried to bring Croatian policy to the forefront of the South Slavs of Austria-Hungary in their fight for unification, while the Serbian part of the Coalition and some of its Croatian members wanted to harmonize Croatian policy with the Kingdom of Serbia
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...
, which would bring Croatia to a politically inferior position in relation to Serbia. At the time of the "High Treason Trial" (1909), the politically motivated trial against the Serb public officials in the monarchy, initiated by the Viennese court because of the crisis around the annexion of Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1908, Supilo advocated a strong support of Croats to the endangered Serbs to preserve the harmony of Croats and Serbs based on the principles from the Rijeka Resolution and the Zadar Resolution.
A desperate fight
His attitude caused a strong reaction of the Austrian circles, who used the Friedjung Trial, started by the Coalition, to try to compromise and politically discredit Supilo. Although the slander against him was unmasked at the trial, Supilo left the Coalition to make its position easier. The Coalition then accepted a compromise in the trial, which brought about the downfall of the ban Rauch, but also the agreement between the Coalition and the new ban Nikola TomašićNikola Tomašić
Nikola Tomašić was a Croatian politician, who served as ban of the Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia. In 1903 he served as Minister without portfolio of Croatian Affairs.-References:*...
. From that time until the death of the monarchy and the creation of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (1918), the Coalition was a tool in the hands of the most influential and ablest pragmatic politician of the time in Croatia, Svetozar Pribićević
Svetozar Pribicevic
Svetozar Pribićević was an ethnic Serb politician from Croatia who worked hard for creation of unitaristic Yugoslavia. However, he later became a bitter opponent of the same policy and of the dictatorship of king Aleksandar Karađorđević...
, a Serb, who advocated unitarism and waited for the death of the monarchy to achieve unity with Serbia at any cost. Supilo accused the opportunist policy of the Coalition leadership of compromising Croatia and giving it an inferior position in the unification with Serbia. He was right, but Pribićević never intended to give Croatia a significant position in the future South Slave state.
After the assassination in Sarajevo, Supilo fled to Italy. He, Trumbić and Meštrović
Ivan Meštrovic
Ivan Meštrović was a Croatian and Yugoslav sculptor and architect born in Vrpolje, Croatia...
started the action to free Croats, Serbs and Slovenians from Austro-Hungary and unite them with Serbia and Montenegro. He also participated in the creation of the Yugoslav Committee
Yugoslav Committee
Yugoslav Committee was a political interest group formed by South Slavs from Austria-Hungary during World War I aimed at joining the existing south Slavic nations in an independent state.Founding members included:* Frano Supilo* Ante Trumbić...
. He tried to persuade the governments of the Triple Entente
Triple Entente
The Triple Entente was the name given to the alliance among Britain, France and Russia after the signing of the Anglo-Russian Entente in 1907....
to create a Yugoslavia that would cover all the South Slav regions. On his missions in Bordeaux
Bordeaux
Bordeaux is a port city on the Garonne River in the Gironde department in southwestern France.The Bordeaux-Arcachon-Libourne metropolitan area, has a population of 1,010,000 and constitutes the sixth-largest urban area in France. It is the capital of the Aquitaine region, as well as the prefecture...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
and Sankt Petersburg in 1914-15, Supilo stood against the imperialist ambitions of Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
on the Adriatic and promoted a compromise in that issue. When he found out about the secret negotiations between the Triple Entente and Italy, he started a vigorous action to prevent the sacrifice of Croatian and Slovenian Adriatic regions to Italy.
Supilo proposed a democratic unity of the South Slavs and their national equality in a federal Yugoslavia. Such views brought him in conflict with the Serbian prime minister Nikola Pašić
Nikola Pašic
Nikola P. Pašić was a Serbian and Yugoslav politician and diplomat, the most important Serbian political figure for almost 40 years, leader of the People's Radical Party who, among other posts, was twice a mayor of Belgrade...
, the main realpolitik
Realpolitik
Realpolitik refers to politics or diplomacy based primarily on power and on practical and material factors and considerations, rather than ideological notions or moralistic or ethical premises...
figure in the idea of Greater Serbia
Greater Serbia
The term Greater Serbia or Great Serbia applies to the Serbian nationalist and irredentist ideology directed towards the creation of a Serbian land which would incorporate all regions of traditional significance to the Serbian nation...
, and the compromising and politically immature majority in the Yugoslav Committee. All this made him leave the Committee in June 1916.
Supilo continued trying to make the Entente interested in Croatia and an integral solution of the South Slav question based on national equality (his well-known letters to British, Italian and Russian politicians Grey
Edward Grey, 1st Viscount Grey of Fallodon
Edward Grey, 1st Viscount Grey of Fallodon KG, PC, FZL, DL , better known as Sir Edward Grey, Bt, was a British Liberal statesman. He served as Foreign Secretary from 1905 to 1916, the longest continuous tenure of any person in that office...
, Sozzino and Sazonov
Sergey Sazonov
Sergei Dmitrievich Sazonov GCB was a Russian statesman who served as Foreign Minister from September 1910 to June 1916...
). The hard and hopeless situation of Croatia within the colonialist manipulations and secret plans (Treaty of London), already divided between the Italian and Serbian imperialism, was too much for Supilo, who had a nervous breakdown
Nervous breakdown
Mental breakdown is a non-medical term used to describe an acute, time-limited phase of a specific disorder that presents primarily with features of depression or anxiety.-Definition:...
and died in a mental hospital in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
shortly after, at the age of 47.
His death was immortalized by Krleža
Miroslav Krleža
Miroslav Krleža was a leading Croatian and Yugoslav writer and the dominant figure in cultural life of both Yugoslav states, the Kingdom and the Republic . He has often been proclaimed the greatest Croatian writer of the 20th century.-Biography:Miroslav Krleža was born in Zagreb, modern-day...
in his Ballads of Petrica Kerempuh: "Sopilovog Frana,/kem serce pregrizla horvacka je rana" (Frano Supilo, whose heart was eaten by the Croatian wound).
Along with Stjepan Radić
Stjepan Radic
Stjepan Radić was a Croatian politician and the founder of the Croatian Peasant Party in 1905. Radić is credited with galvanizing the peasantry of Croatia into a viable political force...
, Frano Supilo seems to be the greatest tragical figure of modern Croatian politics. Machiavelli once said that armed prophets succeed, while the unarmed ones fail. This is true for Supilo: as the representative of the Croatian people in dark and insecure times, this unarmed prophet failed and was destroyed.
Works
In Croatian:- Politika u Hrvatskoj (Politics in Croatia), reprint, ZagrebZagrebZagreb is the capital and the largest city of the Republic of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb lies at an elevation of approximately above sea level. According to the last official census, Zagreb's city...
, 1953 - Politički spisi, članci, govori (Political writings, articles, speeches), Zagreb, 1970
- Izabrani politički spisi (Selected political writings), GM, Zagreb, 2000